Phase control system



Feb. 3, 1-948. B. D. BEDFORD PHASE CONTROL SYSTEM Original Filed June 12, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor; Burhice D. Bedford,

His Afitorneu.

1948. .a. D. BEDFORD 2,435,183

PHASE CONTROL SYSTEM Original Filed June 12, 1944 2 sheets sheet 2 Inventor I Burnice D. Bedf'ord,

b MW

His Attorney Patented Feb. 3, 1948 PHASE CONTROL SYSTEM Burnice D. Bedford, Scotia', N. Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Original application June 12, 1944, Serial No. 539,942. Divided and this application March 5, 1946, Serial No. 652,167

7 Claims. 1 My invention relates to phase control systems and more particularly to phase control systems for electronic power conversion apparatus utilized to interconnect two alternating current circuits.

This application is a division of my application S. N. 539,942, filed June 12, 1944, entitled Electronic converter and assigned to the assignee of the present application.

In order to illustrate my invention, I will describe it as applied to an electronic converter of the dual conversion type wherein alternating current is rectified by an electronic converter to direct current and then reconverted by a second electronic converter from direct current to alter= nating current. Since electronic converter apparatus of the dual conversion type involves both rectification and inversion, accurate firing of each tube of the inverter is essential and in a reversible power flow type, as here described, either group of tubes at the respective ends of the system may have to operate as an inverter. Hence, such a system requires a flexible, accurate and quickly responsive phase control system without undue complications and also control electrode or grid excitation circuits which can effect the various phase changes required for rectifier or inverter operation. A system having these general qualifications is described and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,419,466, granted April 22, 1947, upon an application of C. H. Willis. My invention, generally speaking, is directed to various modifications and improvements in the phase control system disclosed in the above-identified Willis application.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide new and improved phase control apparatus.

It is another object of my invention to provide new and improved phase control apparatus for electronic power conversion apparatus to meet one or more of the several requirements enumerated above, depending upon the function to be performed by the conversion apparatus.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a new and improved control and phase shifting circuit of general application or of particular application with electronic conversion apparatus.

My invention will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, taken together, are a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of my invention as utilized in a complete dual conversion electronic system, whereas Fig. 1 or Fig. 2, considered separately, is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of my invention as utilized in a single step electronic conversion system.

Referring to the drawings, and for the present to Figs. 1 and 2 considered together, I have shown an alternating current circuit l which is to be interconnected with an alternating current circuit 2. I will consider first the power circuits and to facilitate the description will refer, by way of example, to circuit I as a cycle power circuit and the tube groups associated therewith as rectifiers, and the circuit 2 as a 25 cycle power circuit and the tube groups associated therewith as inverters. It is to be understood, however, that the power circuits may be of any desired power frequency of the same or of different frequencies, and that the tube groups associated with either power circuit may be operated as rectifiers or inverters. Under the assumed conditions of function, I have illustrated in Fig. 1 two tube groups 3 and 4of six tubes each, arranged for three phase full wave rectification, and with tubes which ar degrees apart'in phase positioned mounted back to back with the cathode of one tube connected to the anode of another. In Fig. 2, I have illustrated two tube groups 5 and 6 of six tubes each, similarly arranged for three phase full wave inversion. The tube groups 3, 4, 5 and 6 are connected alternately in series in a direct current loop comprising conductors 3a, 3b, 4a, and 4b which include direct current reactors 1' connected in series between each rectifier and inverter. The alternate arrangement of the 25 and 60 cycle tube groups in the direct current loop minimizes th voltage level and is a feature described and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,419,464, granted April 22, 1947, upon an application of A. Schmidt.

The rectifier tube groups 3 and 4 are connected to the alternating current circuit I through transformers 1 and 8 which are designed and connected to obtain multiphase operation. One arrangement which has been found to be satisfactory in service is to utilize two three-phase secondary windings 9 and l0, displaced from each other thirty degrees, which may be obtained by connecting a primary winding ll associated with secondary winding 9 in delta connection and a primary winding l2 in Y connection associated with secondary winding Ill. The inverter type groups 5 and 6 are similarly connected to the alternating current circuit 2 through transformers l3 and I4 having, respectively, Y connected secondary windings l5 and I6 and delta and Y con.

nected primary windings l1 and [8. Between each group of transformer secondary windings and its associated tube group current limiting reactors I 9 and 20 are introduced to limit the fault currents during arc-backs or a short circuit on the direct current loop.

The three-phase double-way (full wave) circuit illustrated is particularly desirable because of its high apparatus economy and good operating characteristics. Although various types of tubes may be used, I have found in practice that of the presently available commercial forms a type known in the art as a pentode ignitron is satisfactory for large power commercial use. For the details of this type of tube, reference may be had to U. S. Letters Patent No.-2,209,819, granted July 30, 1490, upon an application of K. E. Kingdon and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. For the purpose of explaining my invention as utilized in the converter system illustrated, it will suffice to refer to one ofthe pair of tubes of tube group 4 which is to be taken as representative of all of the other tubes. Each tube comprises an anode 2|, a. mercury pool type cathode 22, an immersion-ignitor member 23, a holding anode 24 and a control member or grid 25. The immersion-ignitor 23 establishes a cathode spot by conducting a current peak of short duration whereupon an arc is established and maintained by the holding anode 24. The grid 25 is utilized to determine the time of starting conduction between anode and cathode and also reduces the deionization period at the end of conduction.

Before considering the excitation and control means for the several electrodes of the tubes, it

may be helpful to consider briefly some of the characteristics of the rectifier and inverter action of tubes. The direct current voltage of the rectifier tube group or an inverter tube group may be varied by grid control. If 11 represents the angle by which the grids of the rectifier are retarded, the theoretical direct current voltage E'do of the rectifier will be E'do=Eo cos a (1) In inverter operation the grids may be advanced by the angle B and the corresponding theoretical counter E. M. F. E"do will be E"do=Eo COS B (2) The current-limiting reactors l9 and 20 together where E0 represents the no load. direct current voltage, Xu represents theper unit reactance, and In represents the per unit load current. Correcting the theoretical D.'-C. voltage for tube are drop Ea, reactance drop Ex, and for transformer copper losses, the output D.-C. voltage of the rectifier E'dc will be Here, Ru represents the perunit transformer resistance. Voltage 13" is obtained by adding the arc volt- A similar relation for the inverter,

4 age and the resistance and reactance voltages to the theoretical direct current voltage E"d0.

The 25- and 60-cycle transformers will be assumed to have substantially equal copper losses and the current limiting reactances should have values of the same order of magnitude for reversible operation. The load current and D.-C. voltage must be the same for the rectifier and inverter. These simplifying conditions give cos a-cos B4% The arc drop for high voltage tubes will be of the order of 1% of the load. 7

Equation 6 shows that the angle of inverter advance B must be greater than the angle of rectifier retard a. 1 Increasing B or decreasing a will raise the load, In practice, it is desirable to control a to'regulate the load flow to the desired value. In the case of a low voltage on the rectifier side or high voltage on the inverter side, it may be impossible to obtain the desired load by reducing a to zero. 'It will then be necessary to transfer the function of load control to the inverter and increase B to obtain the desired load. For normal voltage levels and loads, it is preferable to control the load by the rectifier grids for both directions of power flow, the inverter grids being adjusted to provide ample deionization time. It is known that the grid of a. as tube is not able to gain control (prevent current conduction) until a short interval has elapsed after conduction. This interval required for regaining control is known as the deionization time.

The deionization time is of primary consideration in inverter commutation. During the deionization time, the anode of the tube must be held negative to prevent conduction. The duration of the negative anode voltage may exceed the deionization time required by the tube, but the deionization time sets a minimum duration for the negative anode voltage. Commutation in an inverterrequires that the next succeeding tube to take over must be fired before its line to neutral voltage equals that of the tube from which current is being commutated. The angle by which the next conducting tube is fired ahead of the tube from which current transfers is called the angle of grid advancee. The transfer is effected because the counter M. F. in the phase of the tube taking over is lower than the tube presently conducting. The voltage difference between these two tubes is the commutating voltage. The action is quite similar to commutation in a D.-C. motor when the brushes are shifted against the direction of rotation. If the commutating voltage persists after the current has been transferred to the tube next in order, the remaining commutating voltage will be in a direction to reverse the current through the previously conducting tube and will appear as a negative voltage across this last mentioned tube. During this interval, the previously conducting tube must deionize because after this period a positive voltage will be impressed between the anode andcathode of the previously conducting tube. A loss of control will result if the previously conducting tube has not regained control It is evident that the angle of grid advance which was represented by Bin, Equation 2; equals. the commutating angle plus the available deioniz aticn time. Writing this in the form of anequation where U represents the commutating; angle and M represents the available deionization angle or margin angle The angle M has been called the.marg in anglef because-it is usually larger'than the minimum required fordeionization and provides av safety factor in commutation. If the A.-C. voltage drops orthe loadincreases without a correspond ing increase in the angle B, the margin angle will be partlyabsorbed by the greater commutating angle. A large margin angle results in low power factor operation so it is desirable to operate with as small a marginangle as possible. From Equa-v tion 7 it is evident that the angle of: advanceB must be increased with load tomaintain a. constant margin angle because the angle of commutation U will increase with load. Increasing angle B will, however, cause a greater load as shown by Equation 6. As a result, it has been found that increasing. the inverter load angle, while holding the rectifier grids fixed, results in a larger load with an approximately constant margin angle.

In the light of the previous discussion, the phase control system of my present invention may now be, considered with a better. appreciation of the various functions involved. Generally speaking, the rectifier grids should be controlled to maintain the desired load and the invertergrids varied with load to maintain asafe margin angle. When changing the respective tube groups 'from rectifier to'invcrter operation forreverse power flow, the phase position of the grid voltage of the respective tube groups must be shifted by approximately 150 degrees. These functions for that part of the system shown in Fig. 1 are performed, in accordance with my invention, by the phase-shift network 26 and its associated circuits.

Power for both the grid and ignition circuits of'the assumed 60 cycle end is obtained from an auxiliarypower transformer 21 which is utilized to energize an auxiliary power bus 21a- The transformer 21 may be connected tothe power 1 circuitl as illustrated, or to a supply source C01? related in frequency and in phase with the power circuit 1. Thus, three phase power is delivered by the bus 21a to lines 28,28 and 30,- which in turn are connected through variable impedance devices such as saturable reactors 3|, 32; 33, 34 and 35, 36 to switching meansR and I which may take the form of two six pole contactors wherein R signifies the rectifier contactor and I signifies the inverter contactor. These contactor-s introduce the grid phase shift necesssary for reversing power flow which will be explained in detail later. Suitable interlocks (not shown) will, of course, be utilized to prevent simultaneous closing of the R and I contactors. These contactors connect the threephase A.-C. lines, 28, 29 and tothe twelve phase network 28. This network comprises a plurality. of inductive windings arranged diagrammatically inthe form of a polygon and for the illustrated embodiment of my invention comprises a twelve sided polygonconsistingof windings identified in a counterclockwise, order from the twelve, oclock positionas windings 31 to 48, inclusive. The junction points of the windings starting with the. twelve oclockposition are identified in,a, counterclockwise direction by the points49. to 605;,

inclusive- Stabilizing, windings iii to, 66 .iniier connect, respectively, the junction points 49 to 58;. 58 to 55, 51 to 54, 54 to 5|, 53 to 50 and 50 to 59;.

reotion of'therespeotive excitation circuitsbut' to avoid unduecomplexity: in they drawings only .those tapserequired for the excitation circuits illustrated will'be referred tolater.

The reactors 3l-to 3.6 are direct current satu rated reactors. In accordance. with the illus: trated; embodiment of my invention one group of; flux; bias-windings or presaturating windings S'Ito ,12vare connected in series relation each with the samepolarity'in additive relationand energizedfrom any convenient, relatively constant, D;-C; source which, as illustrated, may be obtained from the bus 21a through a full wave rectifier 1371. The windings 61 to 12 are associated with the A.-C. reactor windings 3| to 36 in the same order-asthe numerals have been specified and the current direction assumed is indicated by. the arrows associated'with windings 6'! and A group of control saturating windings'li to 18 are connected in series relation but with the odd numbered windings of this series reversed in polarity relative to the even numbered wind ings. Due to the reversal of the odd numbered control reactorsrelative to .the even, in eombination with the presaturated windings, a variation in direct current through the control saturatingsaturating current causes the reverse efiectp Phase-advanceonthe l2-phase polygon 26 is considered, to be eifected in the conventional counterclockwise direction when the odd numbered reactors are being saturated while the even numebered reactors are being unsaturated. It is thus possible to shift the :grids through the available range of 90idegrees by reversing the current in the control saturating=windings although in theparticular arrangement utilized a shift substantially .80 degrees may-be efiected Without current,

reversal. Foreach value of saturating current there is a corresponding phase position o-fthe network 26. Shifting the effective point of entry of the supply conductors 28, 29 and-3|] to the 12 phase network" by D.-C.' saturation shifts the operating phase of. the two 6-tube groups 3 and 4 Without disturbing their l2-phase relation, and without disturbing the timing of the ignitors, grids and holding anodes for any tube. control saturating windings 73 to 18 are connectedto be variably energized from a controllable source of direct current such as a controllable dynamoelectric machine to be described later.

It will be apparent from the foregoing descrip tion of the illustrated embodiment of my invention that for each pair of impedances or saturable reactors the sameeffect is produced if the bias or presaturating windings are arranged in opposed relation and the control windings in addi- 1 tive relation. The principle of control is depend-:

out upon effecting an inverse change in the re- 75;;spective impedances ofeach pair of impedances These I with a single varying current whether thecurrent in the control winding is in onedirection or the other.

J If it be assumed that the R contactor is closed (all R switches closed) each of the A.- C. lines 28, 29 and 30 will be connected through the D.-C. saturated reactors to two points on the twelvephase network 26. Thus line 29 is connected through reactor 33 to Junction point 50 in the network and is also connected through reactor 34 to junction point Points GI and 5| are separated by ninety electrical degrees on this network. In a. similar manner line 23 is connected to points 56 and 59 through reactors 3| and 32, and line 30 is connected to points 52 and 55 through reactors 35 and .36. If the odd numbered reactors 3|, 33 and 35 are fully saturated and the even numbered reactors 32, 34 and 36 are unsaturated, lines .28, 29 and 39 are closely connected to the. points 55, 60 and 52. This condition is taken to represent a fully advanced position. Reversing the saturation of the reactors, so that the odd numbered reactors are unsaturated and the even numbered reactors are fully saturated, in effect shifts the points of entry of lines 28, 29 and 30 ninety degrees to points 59, 5| and 55, respectively. This shirt in phase of the effective points of entry in a counterclockwise direction around the network results, in effeet, to rotating the network in a clockwise direction and is considered, according to convention, to represent a retardation in phase to the fully retarded position. It is, therefore, evident that the 12-phase network. with the R contactor closed can be given a 90-degree phase shift by-reversing the saturation of'the direct current reactors. When the I contactor is closed (all I switches closed) and the R switches opened, the saturating reactor spans an angle of only about 60 degrees and the grids may be advanced continuously through an angle of the order of 60 degrees beginning at a predetermined angle of advance of the grid voltage for inverter opera tion. This shift in phase for either rectifier or inverter is fairly continuous upon'variations in the saturating current in accordance with the principles recited above. The voltage variation of the network 26 need not exceed over a phase shift of 90 degrees, and it has been found that the time required-for a complete phase shift of 90 degrees need not exceed 0.1 second for a 60 cycle network. All tube control power for the grids, ignitors and holding anodes for the 60 cycle tube groups 3 and 4 is furnished by the single network 26.

As previously noted, the variable direct current energization for the control saturating windings of the phase-shift network 26 is obtained from a'readily controllable and reversible direct current source of voltage, which is illustrated as a direct current dynamo-electric machin 19. Although various known types of direct current dynamo-electric machines may be utilized to carry out my invention in its general aspects, I have found in practice that a particularly suitable type is the compensated cross-armature re action excited machine known in the art as an amplidyne generator such as is described and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,227,992, granted January 7, 1941, upon an application of E. F. W. Alexanderson and M. A. Edwards and assigned to the assignee of the present application. The machine 19 is, therefore, illustrated with a pair of short circuit brushes 80 for providing themain armature re- 8 action excitation ofthe machine and-a 'pairof load brushes 82 which are displaced from the short circuit brushes 80.

ings which may be identified by their respective functions as the antihunt winding 83, current limit field 84, load transfer field 85 and main control field 8,6. To facilitate an explanation of the operation of the system, it will be assumed that a positive field terminal to the right, that is, with current flow from right to left (Fig. 1) results in a positive terminal of the left-hand brush 82 of generator 19. This convention is just the opposite in Fig. 2 since that drawing, in so far as the corresponding dynamo-electric machine is concerned, is in effect a mirror image of Fig. 1. The left-hand load circuit brush 82 is connected directly to the terminal winding 13 of the series of saturable reactor control windings 13 to 18. The right-hand load circuit brush 82 is connected through an inductive coupling device 89 and a resistor 99 to the terminal winding of the winding 73 of the saturable reactor control windings.

The anti-hunt circuit of field winding 83 will now be considered. The inductive coupling device 89 is provided with a secondary winding 9| having two end terminals and an intermediate terminal 92. One end terminal of winding 9| is connected directly to one terminal of the antihunt winding 83 and the other end terminal is connected through an R switch 93 to the midpoint of two series connected resistors 94 and 95.

These resistors, in turn, have a circuit in shunt thereto and including a contact rectifier 96 poled to pass current in the direction indicated by the arrow. In a similar manner, the intermediate tap 92 is connected through an I switch 91 to the midpoint of two resistors 98 and 99. These resistors, in turn, are provided with a shunt circuit including a contact rectifier I09 poled in a direction to pass current in the direction indicated by the arrow. The R and I switches here, as well as in all other cases in the drawing, are interlocked so that when the R switches are closed the I switches are open and vice versa. The antihunt circuit may be better understood by considering the R switch 93 closed and the I switch 91 open. In this case it will be observed that the circuit of field winding 83 may be traced from the right-hand terminal of the winding 9|, considered as a source of positive voltage if the current increases for the polarity of the generator indicated, through th R switch 93 with one path through resistor and another parallel branch path through resistor 94 and rectifier 96, to the left-hand terminal of winding 83 with current through the winding from left to right. Thus the winding 9| picks up a transient voltage as the armature current increases. This voltage is in a direction to energize th anti-hunt field 83 in a direction to make the left-hand brush less positive and thus oppose the change in armature current. If the change is in one direction the current has the two paths traced above and due to the relatively low impedance as contrasted with the one path the anti-hunt effect is the greatest. However, if the change of current is in the opposite direction or a decrease only the single path through resistor 95 is available and due to the relatively higher impedance the antihunt effect is less. The arrangement, therefore, provides adjustments for obtaining difi'erent anti-hunting eilects, depending upon the direction of change. The same operation is effected" The machine is also provided with a number of control field windwith the I switch Q! closed and the R'switch 93 opened through the resistors 98 and 99 and the rectifier H39. In this case only a, portion of the winding Slof the-inductive device need be used.

, The energiz'ation and control of thecurrent "limit field 84 may now be considered. One important feature of the controllimit field84 is ultimately to control the direct current flux of the saturable rc a'ctor'in which the presaturating current and control current are in opposition. If the control generator were to, keep on increasing its armature current beyond the value of control current or ampere turns at which the control current effect was greater than the bias or presaturating current effect, the maximum impedance of the desaturated reactor would passed and the impedance thereafter decreased "so that the phase shift would then start the chang in the opposite direction. 'In order to accomplish this control, I provide a reference voltage whiclr is proportional to the maximum impedance condition of the desaturated reactor which may be a component of voltage proportional to the presaturating current or bias 'magnetornotive force and combine this component of voltage witha' component of voltage proportional to the control current of the saturable reactors.

In the circuit illustrated the reference component of voltage for'one direction of armature current is derived from a resistor Hll connected in series relation with the output circuit of the rectifier 13p which is a substantially constant voltage output derived from the circuit of the presaturating windings 61-12. For the reverse direction of armature current the reference cum-- ponent of voltage is derived from aresistor lflla connected in series with resistor 101'. t will, of course, be understood that any otherconstant reference voltage may be used without departing from my invention in its broader aspects if such component of voltage bears the above described relation to the maximum impedance condition to the desaturated reactor. The variable component of voltage proportionalto the control wind ing current may be obtained from the armature current of the machine 19 and as illustrated is derived from the resistor 90 in the armature circuit of machine 19. The left-hand terminal of field winding 84 is connected to oneterm'inal of resistor lfl'lia. through a contact rectifier I02 which is poled in a direction to pass current in the direction of the arrow when the variable component of voltage from resistor 92 is greater than the reference voltage. The current limit circuit may now be traced from positive terminal of resistor 90 through the resistor ma, through rectifier N32 to the left-hand terminal of field winding 84 through field winding 84 to the negative terminal of resistor 90'. The rectifier I02 render's the circuit unidirectional so that there isno current traversing the current limit field 84 until the component of voltage from resistor 90 exceeds the reference component of voltage from resistor 101a. However, with the assumed polarities it will be noted that when the armature current of machine 19 raises the positive potential of resistor 90 above that of the reference potential, field winding 84 is energized from left to right which makes the positive brush 82 less positive and therefore limits the armature current.

When the current in the armature of the control generator [9 is in the reverse direction, the voltage component across resistor 9B is in the reverse direction from that assumed above and it is then necessary to select a reference voltage whichis also reversed from that previously assumed in order tohave the two components opposed. Hence, the resistor in! is connected in series with the component of voltage across resistor'SO through a contact rectifier H1211. In this case, the current limit circuit may be traced from the left-hand terminal of resistor '90 (now plus), through field winding 24, through rectifier IllZa, through resistor [01' back to the right-hand terminal of resistor 90 (now'negative) The rectifier i820; renders this circuit unidirectional so that there is no current traversing the current limit field 84 until the component of voltage from resistor 98 exceeds the reference component of voltage from resistor "I 0 l It will be observed that the right-hand terminal of field winding 84 is indicated as positive for the first conditions assumed but under the last assumed reversal of armature polarity of the machine 19 its righthand brush 82 is now positive and hence a positive potential on the "right-hand terminal of field winding 84 tends to make the brush less positive and thereby limit or reduce the armature current in the reversed direction.

Since consideration of the load transfer field 85 involves a number of devices at the opposite end of the system and illustrated in Fig. 2, such consideration will be deferred until later and the excitation and control of the load control field '86 will now be considered. In principle; when the tube groups '3 and 4 are operated as rectifiers the machine 19, through the phase shift circuit '26, operates as "a regulator balancing the load current of the conversion apparatus against a reference voltage or signal. A measure of the load current of the converter is secured by rectifying the output of current transformers connected in the input circuit '1 to the rectifier. Thus on the previously stated assumption the apparatus of Fig. 1 will be considered as the 60 cycle rectifier end andtha't of Fig.2 as the output or 25 cycle inverter end, a commenter voltage proportional to the load current is derived from current transformers I03 associated with circuit l. The output of current transformers I03 is converted through transformer I04 to an A.- C. voltage component and this voltage component is transferred through a group o fconducto rs I05 to a suitable rectifier I06, A resistor 10! is connected across the rectifier I06 and is provided with an adjustable tap I08 to provide a convenient adjustable voltage component corresponding to the load current of the 'con'verter. This component of voltage may thus be referred to as the load voltage EL. This componentof voltage corresponding to rectifier load current is arranged to oppose a reference component of voltage which may be referred to as En. The reference voltage ER may be obtained from a suitable adjustable source of constant voltage which remains substantially. constant at the adjusted level. In practice, Iliave found that a three phase induction regulator {69 having its shunt and series windings connected in a manner to provide a three-phase voltage of adjustablemagnitude makes a satisfactory reference voltage. The induction regulator as illustrated is connceted to be energized from the bus 21a, The output circuit of thedevice I09 is connected to a transformer H0 which is provided with a primary winding I l and inorder to provide a reference voltage for both ends of the system, two secondary windings H2 andllS, respectively, are also provided. The output voltage of the secondary winding H2 is connected to a suitable 1 rectifier II 4 for use at the 60 cycle end of the system (Fig. 1) and the secondary winding H3 is connected through a group of conductors I I5 to a suitable rectifier I I4 for use at the 25 cycle end of the system (Fig. 2). A pair of resistors I I8 and III are connected in series across the output of the rectifier H4 and are provided with adjustable taps I I8 and I I9, respectively, to make available the adjustable reference component of voltage Era. The adjustable contacts I'I'I8 of the Er. resistor and II9 of the ER resistor are connected together and provided with a connection terminal I20 which is connected through an I switch I2I to the left-hand terminal of field winding 86. The lower terminal of resistor I01 is connected through an R switch I22 to the left-hand terminal of winding 86. The adjustable contact I I8 of the ER resistor is connected through an R switch I23 to the right-hand terminal of winding 86. The energization of winding 86 during rectifier operation of the tube winding 86. With the R switches I22 and I23 closed the circuit may be traced from contact H8, the positive terminal of the reference voltage ER, through R switch I23, through winding 86 from right to left, through R switch I22, through load current resistor I0'I, back to the negative terminal II9 of the reference voltage resistor II I. The difference between the reference voltage ER and the load voltage E1. will act on the control field 86. If the load is lower than is desired, the reference voltage Ea will exceed the load voltage EL and will excite the field winding 86 from right to left in a, direction to change the saturating current of control saturating windings I3 to III in a direction to advance the rectifier I grids and thereby increase the load to the value set by the reference voltage ER. On the other hand, if the load be greater than is required as determined by the reference voltage ER, the reverse action will take place and the rectifier grids will be retarded.

The induction regulator I 09 may be operated in response to several methods of regulating the load such as manual control, watt control or demand watt control. The various novel features involved in these several controls for regulator I09 are described and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,407,072, granted September 3, 1946, upon an application of Gittings and Bateman. For purposes of simplicity, I have shown a manual control which includes, as a suitable driving means for the rotatable element of the device I09, a reversible motor I24 connected through a suitable shaft and gearing I25 to the rotatable element of the induction regulator. As a means for controlling the direction and amount of rotation of the motor I24 I have shown a reversing switch I26 connected between the motor I24 and a source of voltage I2'I indicated by the and signs.

The field winding 86 is controlled in accordance with the same reference voltage ER when the tube groups 3 and 4 are operated as inverters, although other variable components of voltage are related to ER. The same reference voltage ER across the contacts I'I8--II9 of resistors I I6 and II! may be used as illustrated. This reference voltage is connected in series relation with three other voltage components particularly pertinent to inverter operation across the field wind- 12 ing 88. One of the three components is a voltage component Ep derived from the resistor 90 or a portion thereof as illustrated which is proportional to the armature current of the machine I9. Another component which may be referred to as inverter bias is derived from the voltage of the bus I through the bus 21a, to adjust the initial advance of the inverter grids. A suitable rectifier I28 is connected to the bus 21a and a resistor I29 is connected thereacross and provides a'convenient source of D.-C. voltage corresponding to the output voltage of the inverter tube groups 3 and 4 when these tubes are operating as inverters. This component of voltage may be used in an additive direction, as illustrated, to the reference voltage ER. Still another component of voltage is derived from the bus 21a through a negative phase sequence network device IBII, the output of which is rectified by a suitable rectifier I3I having a resistor I32 connected thereacross. The component of voltage from resistor I32 is in the same direction as the reference voltage ER and is utilized to modify the control in the event of phase unbalance in the inverter output circuit. The lower terminal of resistor I32 is connected to the contact I I8 on the reference voltage resistor through an I switch I33. The energizing circuit for winding 86 during inverter operation will now be evident. Starting with the left-hand terminal of winding 86, the circuit may be traced through I switch I2 I', reference resistors II6II'I, I switch I33, negative phase sequence resistor I32, inverter bias resistor I29, armature current resistor 90 and to the righthand terminal of winding 85. With this circuit just traced, if the reference voltage is higher than the resultant of the other three components of voltage, more load is being indicated and the winding 86 will be energized in a direction from right to left under the assumed polarities and make the left-hand brush 82 more positive to cause th phase shift circuit to advance the in verter grids. In this way the inverter grids are advanced to maintain an approximately constant margin angle or deionization angle the importance of which was explained above.

The final feature of field control to be considered is that involving the energization of winding 85 which is herein referred to as load transfer control. However, since winding 85 is dependent for its energization upon the apparatus shown in Fig. 2, a brief description of that figure now will aid in a consideration of the load transfer control. Since the various elements and devices at the two ends of the system are substantially identical, except for design changes that may be necessitated by two different frequencies, all the elements and devices of Fig. 2, which has been assumed to be at the 25 cycle end, have been given the same reference numerals, with a prime mark, as the corresponding elements and devices of Fig. 1. The only exception to this system of identification is that part of the main power circuit which has been previously described.

The mechanism and system of load transfer involving the energization of field winding 85 of generator I9 may now be considered when the previously considered tube groups 3 and 4 and thus the 60 cycle end is being operated as an inverter with power flow from circuit 2 to circuit I. The principle employed in the transfer is to derive a voltage component from the armature current of the phase shift control generator I9 at the now assumed rectifier end (Fig. 2), and

. above.

1'3 balance this component of voltage against a reference component of voltage so that field winding 65 of generator 19 (now at the inverter end) is energized when the component of voltage corresponding to the armature current of the control generator at the rectifier end exceeds the reference voltage. The reference voltage may conveniently beobtained from the resistor IOI'a which is connected in circuit with the output of the presaturating current rectifier 13'p. A component of voltage, which is variable in accordance with the armature current of the control generator 19' is obtained from the resistor 90 which is connected in series with the load brushes 82.

These two components of voltage are connected.

in a circuit with opposed polarities through a conductor I34 which interconnects the positive terminal of the reference-voltage resistor I 0I'a and the positive terminal of the armature-current resistor 90. A conductor I35 is connected to the negative polarity tap I0 I 'b on resistor I0 I 'a through an adjustable resistor I36, a contact rectifier I31, one side of the circuit may be traced to the right-hand terminal of winding 65 of machine 19 (Fig. l) by way of conductor I35. A conductor I39 is connected to the negative terminal of resistor 60 and may be traced to the left-hand terminal of winding 85 (Fig. 1). Hence, these two components of voltage from resistor 90' and resistor I IlI'a are connected in series opposition and transferred from Fig. 2 to winding 85 on Fig. 1 by conductors I35 and I39. These components of voltage are so related relative to the direction of conductivity of the rectifier I 31' that winding 65 is not energized so long as thereference voltage from Iflla is higher than the reference voltage from resistor 90. However, when the current of the now assumed rectifier control generator 19 exceeds a predetermined value, the positive component of voltage from armature current resistor 90 is enabled to send current in the conducting direction of rectifier I31 so as to send a current through winding 85 fromright to left and cause the control generator 19 to advance the phase of the network 26 which advances the inverter grids and thereby transfers load control to the inverter end of the system.

Load transfer is effected from the control generator 19 of Fig. 1 when it is operating as a rectifier to the control generator 19 when its associated apparatus is functioning for inverter control in the same manner as has been described In this case, the various corresponding elements and devices diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 1', which are instrumentalin effecting loadtransfer control to winding 85? of control generator 1 9' of Fig. 2, are identified by unprimed numerals.

Each tube of the several tube groups is furnished with an appropriate excitation circuit. For the ignitor type of tube with a control grid to determine the instant of conduction in each tube both an ignitor energizing circuit I40 and a grid energizing circuit I4I are arranged for each pair of tubes which are to be conductive 180 degrees apart. For the purpose of simplifying the drawing, only one of each of the respective excitation circuits is shown in diagrammatic detail, although it is to be understood that ignitor and grid excitation circuits similar to thoseillustrated will be connected, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, to the respective pairs of valves and to the proper points on the phase shift network 26 and 26' with due 1'4: regard to the phase of the anode voltages of the particular pair of tubes to be controlled. A suitable arc initiating circuit for tubes of the ign-itor type, as illustrated, may be of the so-called magnetic impulse type such as is described and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,362,294, granted November 1, 1944, upon an application of A. H. Mittag. This type of ignitor circuit is very diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 1 and comprises, as part of its principal components, a firing capacitor I42 and a firing reactor I43 which is designed to saturate during each half wave of alternating voltage of the circuit I40 by reason of the "discharge of current from the firing capacitor I42 through the primary winding I 45 0f transformer I44. The firing circuit may also include a linear reactor I46 connected between the circuit I40 and the firing capacitor I42 to prevent discharge of the capacitance to the supply circuit I40 and also to limit the current taken from the supply circuit at the time the capacitance discharges through winding I45. The transformer I44 may be an insulating transformer, as illustrated, which is provided with a pair of secondary windings I41 and I48 and is utilized to transform the ignitor peaks up to the high voltage level of the tubes. Hence, one terminal of the secondary winding I41 is connected to the ignitor electrode 23 of the upper right-hand tube in tube group 4 through a contact rectifier I49, and the other terminal is connected to the cathode 22 of this same tube. 'I'heignitor of the opposed tube of'this tube' pair would be connected to winding I48 in a similar manner. It is to be understood that the firing peaks of firing reactor I43 occur on both the positive and negative half cycles of the source voltage and thus the single firing reactor I43 provides two peaks displaced 180 degrees apart so as to serve for firing two opposed tubes.

A suitable grid firing circuit is described and claimed. in United States Letters Patent No. 2419x165, granted April 22 1947, upon my application. Hence, in the system illustrated I have shown the grid excitation circuit quite diagrammatically but in sufficient detail to incorporate the essential features thereof. I again illustrate an insulating transformer I50 comprising a primary winding I5I which is connected to the grid supply circuit MI and a pair of secondary windin'gs I52 and I53. One terminal of the secondary winding I52 is connected to the cathode of the upper right-hand tube of tube group 4. The secondary winding I52 supplies a potential to the holding anode circuit 24 through a transformer I54 and to the grid 25 preferably through a peaking transformer I55. A suitable bias means, indicated by the battery I56, is connected in the grid circuit to hold the tube off or specifically to hold the grid negative until the positive peaker voltage overcomes the bias and renders the tube conducting. The secondary winding I53 would be connected to the grid and holding anode circuits of the oppositely disposed tube of the two tube groups of tube group 4 in a manner understood by those skilled in the art.

In connecting the ignitor circuit I40 and the grid circuit I4I to the phase shifter 26, it is necessary to determine the phase of the anode voltage of the particular pair of tubes under consideration and the relation between the several voltages of the respective electrodes of the tube. For the pair of tubes of tube group 4 illustrated, with the ignitor and grid circuits illustrated in diagrammatic detail, it will be assumed that the anode voltage has the phase positionindicateclby the arrow marked anode in the center of phase shift circuit 29. If the firing circuit voltage for Ithe ignitor goes through zero at a given angle displaced from zero anode voltage, which we may assume for purposes of illustration is of the order of 140 degrees advance for the three-phase full -wave connection illustrated, the firing reactor would cause the ignitor to fire at a point of the order of 30 degrees after the zero phase of anode voltage. Hence, the ignitor firing circuit I40 -would be connected to taps on phase shifter 25 r such that a line through the taps will be substantially parallel to a line advanced of the order of -li degrees relative to the phase of the anode voltage shown. In the drawings, the tap connections indicated for the assumptions made are taps 59a and 59a.

If the grid peaker I55 is arranged to fire at the '65 point of the voltage impressed thereon, this means that the grid voltage goes through zero "some 35 ahead of the zero phase of the anode voltage and the grid circuit MI is connected to taps 56a and 58a on the polygon windings'3'l to :48 such that a line therethrough is advanced substantially 35 ahead of the assumed phase of the anode voltage. The arrangement and con- -nection of the ignitor circuit I 40 and the grid circuits Idl of the tube groups and 6 are made to phase shift network 26 in a similar manner to that described in connection with phase shift network 25.

The general operation of the illustrated embodiment of my invention may now be considered ;briefiy. It was considered expedient tordescribe -briefiy the operation of the various component I parts and elements in connection with the initial consideration of these elements'so that the general overall operation may be more "easily understood.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention above described the system rcctifies alternating current from the supply end, such as circuit I,

' by the tube groups 3 and 4 to direct current which traverses the direct loop comprising conductors 3a to db to the inverter tube groups 5 and 5 where conversion is efiected to alternating current which is supplied to circuit 2. flow is determined by the phase angle of grid Thus, if it is desired to transmit The direction of power excitation. power from circuit I to circuit 2, all R switches associated with the apparatus of circuit I will be closed while all I switches at this rectifier end -=Will be opened. -'ciated with the apparatus of circuit 2 at the in-- Conversely, all I switches assoverter end will be closed while all R switches will be opened. With the amplidyne generators l9 and '59 operating, the induction regulator I99 will be adjusted to set the reference voltage Ea at such a value as to effect substantial equality between the rectifier voltage and the inverter counter voltage, so that no power is interchanged over the D.-C. loop. For this condition the amplidyne generator 19 will supply current to the phase shifter control windings I3 to I8 so that the rectifier grids are fully retarded as explained above and the inverter grids of the tube groups Power transfer from circuit I to duction regulator I09 at some predetermined setting corresponding to the desired load. The ,amplidyne generator 13 through the action of the 16 control field winding 86 will then decrease the energization of the phase shift control windings I3 to 18 from full excitation in one direction which provides the 90 degree phase retard through zero to full excitation in the opposite direction for full grid advance or such excitation as will provide the necessary phase shift corresponding to the load setting previously set by regulator I09. If it be assumed that the load setting required full phase advance of the rectifier grids and the desired load was not yet attained, the load transfer mechanism would immediately function in response to a predetermined armature current of the amplidyne generator 19. If this armature current limit is exceeded, the voltage component derived from resistor 90, which is proportional to the armature current of amplidyne 19, would cause energization of field winding 85' of the amplidyne I9 at the inverter end and cause the voltage of this amplidyne to change in such a direction as to change the saturation of control windings I3 to 18' of phase shifter 25 to change in such a direction as to effect a greater phase advance of the grids of the inverter tube groups 5 and G. The advance of phase of the inverter tube groups reduces the counter E. M. F. of these tube groups and thus transfers load control to the inverter end. As a result, it has been found that increasing the inverter load angle, while holding the rectifier grids fixed, results in a larger load with an approximately constant margin angle. A similar sequence of operations would be effected if power transfer were in the reverse I advanced phase shift for inverter operation. The

- ings 73' to II! to advance the inverter grids.

phase adjuster 26, with the I switches closed, has a phase range of the order of 60 degrees. Aside from the feature of load transfer control effected through winding the inverter tubes through the phase shifter 26 are responsive to four components of voltage, namely the reference voltage E'R from adjustable contacts II8I IS, a

component of voltage dependent upon inverter unbalance and, hence, derived from the negative phase sequence network I30, 3. component of voltage dependent upon the voltage of the circuit 2 derived from inverter bia resistor I29 and a component of voltage dependent upon the armature current of the amplidyne generator 19 derived from resistor One important feature of the control on the inverter grids is the relawinding 86' is energized with a different current which acts through the phase shift control wind- In this way, the inverter grids are advanced to maintain an approximately constant margin angle-or deionization angle. The two additional components of voltage provide correction for the inverter bias and phase unbalance in the inverter, if necessary, through modification of the excitation of winding 86' and hence result in a phase shift of the inverter grids to effect the desired correction. The tube groups 3 and 4, when operating as an inverter, operate in substantially the same manner as has been described for tube groups and 6. Load transfer control from the tube groups 5 and 6 operating as rectifiers to tube groups 3 and 4 operating as inverters is effected through armature current resistor 9!! and the load transfer circuit comprising conductors I35 and I38 to the load transfer field winding 85 of amplidyne generator 19,

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from my invention, and I, therefore, aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall withinthe true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a first electric circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, a second electric circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, means associated with one of said circuits for providing two terminals having a difference of potential therebetween, means comprising at least two impedances connected between said terminals, means including a single source of voltage Variable in magnitude and associated with said two impedances for effecting an inverse change in said impedances for producing therefrom a voltage variable in magnitude, and means for introducing said variable voltage between the phase conductors of said first, circuit and the phase conductor of said second circuit for producing a change in the phase relation between the voltages of said first and second cirouits.

2. In combination, a first electric circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, a second electric circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, means associated with one of said circuits for providing two terminals having a difierence of potential therebetween, mean comprising two impedances connected between said terminals, each impedance being provided with a magnetic core, means including a biasing winding for biasing the core of each impedance with a unidirectional magnetic flux, a control winding for each impedance, said bias winding and said control winding of each impedance being arranged with its associated impedance so that a current change through said control winding effects an inverse change in the value of the impedance of one impedance relative to the value of impedance of the other impedance, means for energizing said bias windings with a unidirectional current of predetermined value, and means for energizing said control windings with a unidirectional current variable from a predetermined value to a different predetermined value for effecting a change in the phase relation between the voltages of said first and second circuits.

3. In combination, a first electric circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, a second electric circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, means associated with one of said circuits for providing two terminals having a difference of potential therebetween, means comprising two impedances connected between said terminals and each impedance being provided with a presaturating winding and a control winding, said presaturating windings being connected in additive relation and said control windings being connected in opposed relation, means for energizing said presaturating windings with a unidirectional constant current, means for energizing said control windings with a unidirectional voltage variable in magnitude, and means for introducing a component of voltage from said im pedances between the phase conductors of said first and second circuits for producing a change in the phase relation between the voltages of said first and second circuits.

4. In combination, a first electric circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, a second electric circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, means associated with one of said circuits for-providing two terminals having a, difference of potential therebetween, means comprising two impedances connected between said terminals, means for biasing each impedance to produce a predetermined relation between the values of said impedances, means for varying inversely the impedance values of the respective impedances for effecting a change in the phase relation between the voltages of said first and second circuits, and means responsive to a condition corresponding to the maximum value of impedance of one of said impedances for limiting the variation eiiected by said second mentioned means.

5. In combination, a first electric circuit comprisin a plurality of phase conductors, a second electric circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, means associated with one of said circuits for providing two terminals having a difference of potential therebetween, means comprising two saturable reactors connected between said terminals, each of said reactors includin a presaturating winding and a control winding for effecting an inverse change in the impedance of the respective reactors to a predetermined maximum value for one reactor and a predetermined minimum value for the other or vice versa, means for energizing said presaturating windings with a predetermined substantially constant unidirectional current, a source of variable voltage for energizing said control windings with a. variable unidirectional current for effecting a change in the phase relation between the voltages of said first and second circuits over a predetermined range, and means for limiting the current output of said source of variable voltage in dependence upon the attainment of the predetermined value of minimum impedance in one of said reactors.

6. In combination, a first alternating current circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, a second alternating current circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, an inductive network for interconnecting said circuits and being provided with a plurality of connection terminals, the phase conductors of one of said circuits being connected directly to spaced terminals of said network, a plurality of pairs of series connected inductive devices with the pairs equal in number to the phase conductors of said other circuit and each pair of inductive devices having a junction terminal and two end terminals, the end terminals of each pair being connected to spaced points on said network, each phase conductor of said other circuit being connected to a different junction point of said pairs of inductive devices, a plurality of presaturating windings arranged one with each of said inductive devices and connected in additive relation, a plurality of control saturating windings arranged one with each of said inductive devices and connected in opposed relation for each pair of inductive devices, means for energizing said presaturating windings with a constant unidirectional voltage,

means comprising a dynamo-electric machine for energizing said control saturating windings with a voltage variable in magnitude for shfting the effective point of entry of each phase conductor associated with each pair oi inductive devices from one spaced terminal of each Pair or terminals of said network to the other spaced terminal of the pair.

7. In combination, a, first alternating current circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, a second alternating current circuit comprising a plurality of phase conductors, an inductive network for interconnecting said circuits and being provided with a plurality of connection terminals, the phase conductors of one of said circuits being connected directly to spaced terminals of said network, a plurality of pairs of series connected inductive devices with the pairs equal in number to the phase conductors of said other circuit and each pair of inductive devices having a junction terminal and two end terminals, the end terminals or each pair being connected to spaced points on said network, each phase conductor of said other circuit being connected to a difierent junction point of said pairs of inductive devices, a plurality of presaturating windings arranged one with each of said inductive devices and connected in additive relation, a plurality of control saturating windings arranged one with each of said inductive devices and connected in opposed relation for each pair of inductive devices, means for energizing said presaturating windings with a constant unidirectonal voltage, means comprising a dynamo-electric machine provided with a control field winding and having an armature circuit connected to energize said control saturatin windings, and means for varying the energization of said control field winding in a manner to provide an armature current variable in magnitude and reversible in direction for shifting the phase relation between the voltages of said alternating current circuits.

BURNICE D. BEDFORD. 

